|
Royalty rate assessment is a practical tool to gauge the impact of a royalty commitment in a technology contract to the business interests of the contracting parties. In this coverage, the terms 'royalty', 'royalty rate' and 'royalties' are used interchangeably. A firm with valuable Intellectual Property IP by having spent sums of money to develop manufacturing know-how, patents or a trademark, can be expected to not only employ it for gain but to seek, by licensing it out :(a) to recoup part of the expenditure incurred on development (b) achieve such in the shortest period of time and (c) attempt to obtain a profit from each of the markets in which the IP will be employed to the gain of the licensee. A licensee under the IP, on the other hand, risks (a) the potential loss of capital that would be invested for working the license (b) the adequacy and protection in the rights licensed and (c) and the uncertainties of any marketplace. The licensee's objective would, thus, be to minimize exposure to the costs and the performance of the technology. This contest in objectives will normally be settled by a compromise of expectations. One of the key elements of this process is the royalty applied, amplified here. The royalty is not a single separate element but is a composite of the rate, the length of time over which it applies, the unit base of its calculation, the 'remaining life' of the licensed right (for instance, the balance life of a patent), supportive assistance and other contractual obligations. Other license metrics, such as exclusionary rights modify the rate. But fundamental to this exercise, to both the parties do a contract, is the ''competitiveness'' of the product, process, service or like entity. If there are rival products or services available to the licensee, or if there are more favourable markets for the licensor, the compromising equation changes in context. The cost to the licensor in developing a technology, or the cost of building the value of a trademark or the normal market risks of the licensee in the choice of product, and concomitant capital costs, are not generally part of the compromise equation, significant as these factors may be to each of the negotiating parties. However, such costs do become pertinent when a technology is licensed out prior to its maturity (See The Technology Life Cycle). ==Typical royalty rates== 'Typical royalties' are historically applied royalty rates. To understand the concept of 'typical royalties' one must infer that the term 'royalty' originally applied to the 'share of the proceeds' that the Crown demanded of its subjects for any exploitation of the assets owned by the Crown, for instance, mines, shipping lanes, geographic territories and the like. Besides the implication of ''sharing'' the proceeds of an operation, the payment of royalty was expressly an acknowledgement that the exploited property remained in the hands of the Crown; in other words, any exploitation was by a way of lease or franchise and not through sharing or transfer of ownership. Today this concept carries over to the absolute ownership of property in Intellectual Property rights (IPR), whether that resides in a product, process or system by a governmental, corporation or like entity. Where there is lack of knowledge of the analytical concepts in royalty, the general tendency is to use mineral mining royalties as a base reference. Historically, royalties in the region of 1.0 to 3.0% have prevailed, the unit-base being 'sales value' of the exploited product. Little consideration is given to the character of the product or process being licensed, the nature and profitability of the market-place or the 'remaining life' of the licensed entity. In a slightly modified form, typical rates applied in the industry to which the product belongs is used; for instance, in the textiles, chemicals or auto-component industries. As will be seen shortly, such arbitrary negotiation of royalty rates holds danger for both the proprietor/licensor of technology and its user/licensee. In a poorly profitable market, the licensee stands to lose disproptionately, and in a very profitable market, the licensor. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Royalty rate assessment」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|